RIYADH, 24 April 2007 — Taiwan is planning to extend its scholarship program for Saudi students, according to Sheng-tsung Yang, the Taipei economic and cultural representative in Riyadh. The official made his remarks on the occasion of the departure of a 27-member IT team that visited the Kingdom from Taipei recently.
The group, visiting under the supervision of Taiwan External Trade Development Council, consisted of representative from 20 companies.
“Currently, there are three Saudi students in National Taiwan University,” said Yang, disclosing that two of them were studying for their master’s degrees in computer science while the third was majoring in medicine. He disclosed that more Saudis are now getting admission in the 20 Taiwanese colleges, which teach their curricula in English.
“Our scholarship amount for a master’s degree is $750 per month. For the doctoral program it is $950,” Yang said, adding that the discussions with the Saudi authorities for the accreditation of Taiwanese degrees were in progress.
Yang also said that Saudi-Taipei bilateral trade during the last year amounted to $10.3 billion, of which $9.7 billion consisted of Saudi petrochemical exports to Taipei. Currently, Taipei is importing 300,000 barrels of Saudi crude oil per day, and this tilts the trade balance in favor of the Kingdom.
“In order to lessen the gap, we would like to see more of our IT products in the Saudi market,” Yang said.
